Optical isolators are necessary to prevent reflected optical radiation from re-entering an optical device such as, for example, a laser. In optical communication systems, reflections of optical energy into a laser degrades the operation of the laser by causing amplitude fluctuations, mode partitioning, frequency shifts, and linewidth narrowing. Present optical communication systems use optical isolators at the output of a laser to prevent light from being reflected back into the laser. Such isolators are generally referred to as Faraday isolators and utilize the principles of linearly polarized (also referred to as plane polarized) electromagnetic energy in combination with Faraday rotation. Frequently, two isolators are used in tandem to provide as much as 60 db isolation. Typically, when designed to operate with optical energy at a wavelength of 1.5 .mu.m, the optical isolator will have a length of several centimeters and require 8 optical surfaces. Present day optical isolators are large and bulky relative to optical fibers and, therefore, cannot readily be incorporated into a chip or become an integral part of an optical fiber.